News broke approximately a month ago that General Conference 2020 had been postponed yet again, this time to 2024. Shortly thereafter, news broke concerning an announcement by a number of United Methodist caucus groups aligning with an unofficial organization called the Global Methodist Church that the GMC would be officially launching as a new denomination on May 1 and invited all interested local churches and annual conferences to join them.
The Global Methodist Church is forming this new denomination in response to the backlash to the legislation passed at the Special Session of the General Conference in 2019 which deepened our divide over our differing opinions concerning our LGBTQ+ siblings in the church rather than uniting the United Methodist Church.
I wrote about this in an email to our CHUMC members and constituents shortly after these events took place. However, you may still have questions concerning these events and the future of the UMC.
Well, Bishop Michael McKee is holding a series of meetings with clergy and laity to answer the questions that our United Methodist people have. The meeting for Metro District laity was held this past Saturday while we were celebrating the life of Norma Wood. Due to the conflict, we stopped announcing that meeting.
However, our CHUMC laity have been granted permission to register for the North Central District Laity Meeting with Bishop McKee at Grace Avenue UMC in Frisco, TX, on Saturday, April 30 at 9:30 am. If you would like to attend, you are asked to preregister using the following link:
https://www.ntcumc.org/district-visits
I am certain this meeting will be helpful and informative as we seek to make sense of the future of the UMC and the call of the discipleship upon us as that future continues to take shape.
Grace and peace,
Rev. J.D. Allen